Tag Archives: Scotland

It’s British Beer Day (or #BeerDayBritain) today, which means it would be disrespectful not to crack open a bottle of something brewed right here.

If you’ve done the Guinness Tour in Dublin – which I highly recommend, even for those of you daft enough to hate the black stuff – and you’ve been to the Heineken Experience in Amsterdam or the Domus Brewery in Leuven, you might fancy a British equivalent. That’s why all the beers I recommend here come with brewery tour options. Cheers!

The Craft Beer Success Story: Bristol Beer Factory Milk Stout

This creamy milk stout (4.5% ABV) has won more awards than you’ve had hot dinners, and it’s quite a healthy choice, as milk stouts tend to contain Vitamin B6, Niacin and flavonoids (antioxidants). Bristol Beer Factory Milk Stout has hints of chocolate, coffee and fruit, and I find it’s a must-have when I’m in Bristol. Awkwardly, I first discovered it during a family wake at the Tobacco Factory, but let’s just gloss over that…

Dovecot is a pretty well-hidden venue. Tucked at the end of Edinburgh’s Infirmary Street, in what used to be a public bathhouse, the Dovecot Studio produces tapestries and rugs for worldwide clients. It also maintains its own creative foundation, and the Dovecot Gallery shows contemporary art exhibitions, which drew me in to visit.

The Dovecot Gallery’s leading current exhibitions are striking in their own right, but together they make a formidable pair, and they’ll be running until late September to give you a serious culture injection.

Back in the early days of visiting the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, I’d always look forward to the long train ride up north and watching the world go by from my window seat. However, after a fraught train journey last year, involving delays, confusion and crouching in a packed corridor for several hours, I decided to try the Caledonian Sleeper for this year’s trip home.

Would it be worth swapping a hotel room, or an early evening train and a night in my own bed, for a night on the tracks in a Standard Sleeper Twin Berth? There was only one way to find out…

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is nearly upon us for another year – where does the time go? In fact, time is all too precious when you’re at the Fringe, and it can feel as though you need to be a logistics expert to pack as much into your day as possible.

However, taking a breather in between shows doesn’t have to involve lurking in the nearest Starbucks. Those tiny bits of free time can be maximised by doing something fun, unusual and also cheap.

Just in time for long summer days and the approach of the school holidays, guest poster Robyn is here to tell you about three of the best UK water sports to get involved in, whether you’re a complete amateur or you want to test your existing skills in a new location.

Whilst I went white water rafting years ago, and failed dramatically at windsurfing on a school trip, this blog post has reminded me there’s no age limit when it comes to trying water sports. Maybe it’s time to book those surf lessons after all…

Another year of travel highs and lows has gone by, so it’s time for a review of poppy-filled, sports-dominated, battle-scarred 2014. The stories below stood out for me as the most realistic insights into much-discussed destinations and travel habits.

Trouble in Paradise

Thailand suffered from the effects of harsh military rule and the aftershock of a tragic double murder, claiming the lives of two British holidaymakers. The country’s Tourism Authority is now trying to put a positive spin on martial law, claiming it offers greater safety for visitors, but the increased presence of the police and the army isn’t appealing to everyone. During the darkest times for Thailand, Russian tourists helped to boost the economy, but the falling value of the rouble has seen fewer Russian arrivals. Fortunately, high-spending Chinese visitors have helped Thailand get back on its feet again. This is all the more important as it’s now been 10 years since the devastating Boxing Day tsunami claimed 8,000 lives and affected 12,000 homes.

Sometimes talking about the Ed Fringe makes you sound like a character from a Vietnam War film. “You don’t know… you weren’t there… it was carnage,” is just one response likely to wind up festival newbies. Yet I cannot emphasise enough how annoyingly important it is not to walk into this event blindfolded, either metaphorically or literally (ouch). Of course you’ll enjoy blustering around and trying to work out which performances sound like your thing, but you won’t be having so much fun when you’re greeted with the crushing sense of disappointment delivered by an ever-increasing box office queue or, worse, a huge list of sold out shows when you reach the front of said queue.

Hello & Welcome

I'm Polly, a British travel blogger with my eye on all things cultural and unusual, from museums to markets. I've experienced a metal gig in Reykjavik, seen a bone chapel in Kutna Hora and been to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe nine times. Next up: who knows?